The present invention relates to improvements in the use of hand tools as applied, more particularly, to a combination screwdriver and heavy duty staple remover.
It is common in the packaging of articles of manufacture for transit to use a stapling apparatus to apply heavy duty staples in a clenched condition in overlapping closure flaps of a cardboard shipping carton, a practice well documented in the prior patented literature, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,823 for xe2x80x9cSTAPLE REMOVERxe2x80x9d issued to Goldy on Jun. 3, 1980. While serving the needs of preventing product damage during transit at the receiving site, which often is where the product is to be offered for sale or to be put into an industrial use, removing the staples from their clenched engagement to the closure flaps currently occasions difficulty because of the lack of a hand tool effective by its design to accomplish the removal chore, or a better understanding of how to use an available more appropriately designed hand tool properly to unclench the heavy duty staple from its shipping carton attachment site. The use of prior art hand tools contemplate projecting a camming wedge configuration beneath the exposed middle staple leg and by the resulting ascending movement causing an unclenching opening movement of the opposite end staple legs and thus the release of the staple. Exemplifying this practice of attempting to wedge the staple free of its attachment are U.S. Pat. No. 1,802,687 for xe2x80x9cSTAPLE PULLERxe2x80x9d issued to Vrana on Apr. 28, 1931, U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,673 for xe2x80x9cSTAPLE LIFTERxe2x80x9d issued to Poskin on Jun. 8, 1971, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,226 for xe2x80x9cSTAPLE REMOVERxe2x80x9d issued to Appleman on Jul. 23, 1974, to mention but a few. In the actual implementation of this practice, it often happens that the opposite staple ends do no release simultaneously, and so one opposite staple end remains attached to the carton often causing injury if attempted to be manually pulled free by being twisted back and forth. Such removal requires the use of pliers.
Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prier art.
More particularly, it is an object to use to advantage the similar dimensional size of the opposite staple end legs that have to be unclenched in a removal procedure that results in these legs being simultaneously released from the attachment site to thereby obviate any remaining still dangling injury-causing staple condition, all as will be better understood as the description proceeds.